by Debra Holt
Her first thought was to go straight to the Braxton Ranch to confront Chance. However, as she drove from town toward the country, a calmer head prevailed. She needed time to absorb what Chance had done and figure out exactly how she would deal with it. Instead of taking the turnoff to his ranch, she continued toward her own.
*
Three days later, the first real winter blast hit them. Snow began falling just after noon. As the day progressed, so did the wind and the weatherman’s forecast of a potential “white out” looked to be on target. Josie and Tom made sure that the generator was working and ready if needed. She made one more trip to the barn to ensure that Cookie and the other horses were fed and secured. Sliding the large door shut behind her, she had to lean into the wind to make any headway back to the porch, the snowflakes whipping around her, coating her clothing. She had made it to the porch steps when the sound of an engine carried to her, and she turned to see one of the Braxton Ranch work trucks pull into the drive. She assumed it would be one of the hands sent by Chance to check on things. She was wrong. It was the man himself. Unfortunately, she had little time to prepare herself for this first meeting after so much had happened the last time they were together.
He made it up the sidewalk, his hat pulled tight on his head and the heavy sheepskin collar of his jacket turned up against the wind. As he got closer, she could see the stubble on his chin, as if he hadn’t bothered with a razor in a couple of days. She stepped to the front door and opened it, leaving him to follow her or not. Josie didn’t stop until she stood in front of the fireplace with its warm flames.
Shedding her jacket and gloves, she bent to unzip her all-weather boots and set them on the corner of the hearth. The bits of snow which had fallen off her clothing were making little puddles on the floor. She would clean them up once she dealt with her unexpected visitor.
“What were you doing out in this mess?” His voice was gruff and caught her off guard. It also irked her. He hadn’t bothered to speak to her in almost two weeks, and that was the best he could come up with?
“Not that it is any business of yours, but I was checking on Cookie and the others one more time before the weather worsened. What are you doing here?”
He swept the hat off his head and unbuttoned his jacket, the warmth of the room making the outer clothing a bit much. Withdrawing the gloves from his hands, he stuck them in his side pocket. “Checking on you. I tried to call, but the call failed. I guess the weather has downed the tower.”
“You really didn’t need to come over. This isn’t the first storm I’ve been through. It won’t be the last. You should be on your way before the drifts get too high on the road.”
“What are you still doing here?”
She blinked at the unexpected and odd question. Looking closer, she could see there were fine lines at the corner of his eyes and he looked tired. Was he not well? She had never known Chance Braxton to have one sick day in his life. A sharp feeling of worry shot through her. She ignored it as best she could. Yet a strange compulsion engulfed her, and she felt the need to be more understanding.
“I don’t know what you’re referring to. Where else would I be? And I have a pot of chili on the stove right now that I need to check on.” She didn’t wait for a reply but headed in the direction of the kitchen.
A few minutes later, she replaced the lid on the pot and turned, only to stop short when she found him leaning against the doorway. He lingered there, hands shoved in his pockets, appearing almost hesitant about stepping any further into the room.
“I was just going to have a bowl. Would you like to join me?”
He seemed about to reply in the negative, but he changed his mind at the last moment. “I never could refuse your mother’s chili recipe.”
“Have a seat and I’ll dish it up.” She kept her mind on the matter at hand, no easy task, as she was acutely aware of his eyes following her around the room. She wished her jeans and the burgundy sweatshirt she wore were less faded. Her hair must be a mess, escaping from the ponytail in the wind of the morning. She couldn’t worry about such things now. Besides, Chance had seen her in a lot worse shape. Such as covered head to toe in mud after the cow incident.
Setting the steaming bowls on the table, along with a loaf of homemade bread and two mugs of coffee, she drew out her chair and sat down.
Chance took a bite, then a second one. “This is good, Josie. It hits the spot on a day like today.”
“Thank you. Now why don’t you explain what you meant by your question?”
He took another bite, before wiping his mouth with his napkin and laying it beside his bowl. “I figured once Dev got his trust fund money, and decided to head to Florida, he’d be able to talk you into joining him. You have Tom to keep an eye on the ranch. You deserve to take some time and get away from here.”
Things were coming into clarity for Josie. And her frustration was also on the rise again. She fought to keep it under control. “By any chance, would that also be the reason you took it upon yourself to wipe out the debt of the loans? The ones we had agreed I would have time to pay off?”
He looked at her then and, for the first time since coming into the house, he met her gaze straight on. Josie had to grip her hands underneath the table top to keep breathing as normally as possible. The man could cause her stomach to flip flop and her heart to race with one look. She doubted she would ever be immune to it. She waited for his reply.
“I removed every excuse you could have about not following your heart. The last one will be removed as soon as the courthouse opens on Monday.”
She knitted her brow, trying to decipher what he meant.
“You can’t very well go after my brother while married to me. I signed the papers, and all they need is your signature.” He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small packet. He laid it on the table between them.
Josie never expected this. She drew back into her chair, as far from the packet as possible. A month ago, she would have grabbed for the nearest pen and signed on the dotted line. That was before she had realized Chance had her heart all along. Only now it was apparent that he didn’t want it.
“I see. So you worked all this out in your mind and decided for me what was best?”
“It isn’t exactly the way you make it sound, but the outcome is the same. You’ll have your freedom as soon as I can give it to you.”
“You’ll be free as well. That’s what this is really about, isn’t it? Although, I never figured you were one to ever go back on your word to anyone, especially to my mother.” She scored a direct hit as she saw the fire that lit the dark eyes. A muscle twitched at the corner of his implacable jaw line.
“I’ve tried to honor your mother’s request, but I’m only human. Above all else, she asked me to make sure you were taken care of and happy. I released Dev’s trust to him, and that should be more than enough to keep you both taken care of for a very long time…as long as you keep an eye on the funds yourself. And if you decide that you never want to come back here to Braxton after you’ve gotten a taste of the world outside this ranch, then I’ll make sure you get top dollar for it. In that respect, I’m keeping my word to her. However, it’s up to Dev to make you happy, not me.” He bit out the last as if it left a bad taste in his mouth, rising from his chair, and grabbing his hat and coat from the one beside him.
“Thanks for the chili.” Chance jammed the hat on his head and was shrugging into his coat as he headed down the hallway toward the front door, apparently bent on getting away from her and the discussion as soon as he could.
“Why are you determined to push me toward Dev? I told him goodbye and good luck with his new life in Florida. I’m still here. I will still be here fifty years from now. So you can just get used to that, Chance Braxton.” Josie’s voice rose on the last sentence. Her hands on her hips and feet planted slightly apart only underlined the fact that she had had it with his whole attitude and the subject itself.
Chance turned
from the front door and gave her a long look. There was a hint of skepticism still lurking in the dark sapphire eyes. “Until Dev shows up again and needs you to feel sorry for him or bail him out of another mess.”
Her eyes narrowed, but she held to her stance. “It’s the money, isn’t it? You’re angry about me giving him all the money in the bank account you set up for me. I don’t want to split hairs, but you did tell me that I could use it in any way I saw fit. I did just that.”
“Yes, you did. Dev turned on the blue-eyed charm and you fell for it all over again.”
Josie advanced to stand a few feet from him. Her chin lifted to dare him to argue the point. “I did not fall for any charms. I didn’t give him the blasted money for himself. It would have served him right to have to get himself out of his own mess for once. I did it to keep those men from coming after you, you big idiot.” She immediately wished she could take back that last little bit. The look on Chance’s face quickly turned to disbelief.
“Coming after me? What are you talking about?”
“Dev said that it made no difference to those men if they got the money from a trust or from inheritance. In fact, inheritance might be preferable. They were making threats against you, and I knew I could stop it by handing him over the money. So I did it.”
Chance took a step closer to her, his fingers pushing the brim of his hat back from his forehead as if he needed to get a good look at her. “You gave him the money to keep me from getting hurt?”
“I don’t know how many times I have to repeat it for you…but yes!”
The frown left his face as he slowly turned the words over in his mind. His hand reached out toward her, just as the front door blew open and Tom stepped in, bringing a lot of snowflakes with him. Chance’s hand dropped back to his side and the moment changed.
“Sorry about not knocking, but I saw Chance’s truck, and we have a situation and not a lot of time.” The man tried to catch his breath at the same time he was explaining. Josie and Chance both stepped forward.
“Stock?” Josie asked before Chance could. She was already reaching for her heavy jacket from the hall closet.
“No, one of the deputies stopped by because they couldn’t get us on the phone. They have a report of a family stranded on the blacktop to the south, just past Cutter’s Creek. The road is pretty well drifted over. We’re saddling up and trying to hit it by going across pastures. You know the area around the arroyo better than most of us, Chance. The last communication they had from them indicated the father might have had an attack of some sort before the phone went dead.”
“I’ll need a horse.” Chance was already moving to the door.
“We have one saddled for you…figured you’d join us.” Tom nodded.
“Did you saddle Cookie?”
Tom remained silent, and his eyes flew to Chance, who had stopped and turned to face Josie. “If he did, he can unsaddle him. You need to stay put. Once we find the family, we may need to bring them here.”
“I am as able as any of you…”
“It isn’t about whether you’re tough enough. You’re staying put and not wasting our time in argument. Listen for the radio. I’ll have mine and so will Tom. Find as many blankets as you can and get the first aid supplies ready.”
Josie wanted to argue and stamp her foot and make him see reason, but she knew that a large part of what he was saying was for the best. So she held back what she wanted to say. Instead, she simply said, “Check in every fifteen minutes and let me know what’s going on. Be careful out there, all of you.”
Tom nodded and disappeared out the door. Chance buttoned his coat and then dug into its pockets. Josie remembered something and opened the drawer of the hall table. She found what she sought and turned to face the man. “You’ll need these heavier gloves. You left them on the table a while back.”
Chance reached to take them from her, and their hands touched briefly. The electric shock was felt by both, and their eyes met. “Static caused by the storm,” he mumbled, drawing the lined gloves on his hands. Turning to the door, he paused and glanced back at her.
“I mean it, Josie. Stay inside and don’t even think of going anywhere in this mess. I don’t want to have to worry about you, too.”
“I heard you the first time, Chance. Just make sure you bring my horse back okay.” She said the words, but all she wanted to do in that moment was throw her arms around his neck and beg him to stay safe. She didn’t move.
His mouth turned up at one corner indicating his amusement at her words. He didn’t say anything but stepped through the door and quickly shut it behind him to keep the snow and cold from blowing inside. The house was eerily quiet once he left. Josie moved to the window in the living room and was shocked at the change in the weather in just the last hour. The barn’s dark outline was barely discernible in the blowing whiteness. Drifts had piled up halfway on the stone fence at the edge of the yard, and Chance’s footprints were barely visible along the walkway, the snow was falling so fast.
Her gaze stayed on the barn and on the blurry figures that emerged on horseback a few moments later, small lights attached to stirrups to help keep each other in sight. Josie watched until they were lost in the curtain of white. Even though she could no longer see anyone, Josie didn’t move from the window for a few minutes. There was a strange feeling growing inside her, and she couldn’t shake it. Hopefully, news would come soon, and everyone would be okay and back home safely. She needed to see Chance walk through that front door once again.
Chapter Twenty-One
The hour passed, then a second one. The radio had remained silent after the first forty-five minutes or so of the search. Josie kept checking it to make sure it still had power. As much as she wanted to call out to Tom or to Chance, she kept herself from doing so. They needed to concentrate on what they were doing. She traced and retraced her steps from the rear-kitchen window to the window in the living room too many times. An attempt to try and catch up on some paperwork on her desk failed after adding and re-adding the same column of figures for the fifth time, making her toss the pencil down and give up. She hated feeling helpless.
At the end of the third hour, Josie’s stomach began knotting. Not only was the storm increasing in snowfall and wind velocity, but darkness was creeping in too quickly. Surely, the men would be returning soon, unable to continue the search after dark. When they did return, they would be cold and hungry. She kept her mind occupied with making a second batch of the chili, along with a couple of loaves of homemade bread. Josie turned her attention to the kitchen and decided it was as good a time as any to scrub the oven. With that deed done, she poured herself a mug of steaming hot chocolate and curled up into the deep chair she had pulled closer to the fire.
Luckily, the electricity was still holding its own. Her eyes kept moving to the face of the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. The hands seemed to progress at a snail’s pace. Her fingers went to rub her neck. The muscles were tense, and she couldn’t keep from feeling something was not right. Something’s off. It scared her because she recognized it as the same feeling she had just before the call came from the hospital telling her she needed to return quickly, her mother had taken a turn for the worse.
Josie wouldn’t let her mind dwell on such things. Think of positives. Chance was smart. He was strong, and he never took chances with the lives of his men or the animals. However, he would never be out in such weather unless there was an emergency, and this was certainly not the typical emergency. People’s lives were at stake.
She hoped they found the family, and everyone was okay. More than that, she hoped it would soon be over because she didn’t know if she could stand much more of the waiting and silence. Once they did return, she would make sure she gave Chance a piece of her mind about not checking in with her like he promised. Of course, that would come after she thanked God for bringing him back safe and sound.
Just after the clock chimed out the final count of five, her ea
rs detected another sound. She flew out of her chair and reached the hallway just as the outer door opened and Tom blew in with the wind. He shut the door behind him. That wasn’t right.
“Where’s Chance? Did you find the family? Is everyone alright? Why didn’t you check in on the radio?” Even as she said the words, she knew that all wasn’t right. It was in the lines of his body and the eyes that didn’t want to meet hers but had no choice.
“The radios wouldn’t transmit. I guess it had to do with the weather. But the family’s okay. We were able to get them to where the second ambulance could transport them on the main highway by using one of the Sampson’s tractors to cut across the Ridgeway pasture.”
“Second ambulance. You said second. There was a first one?” She walked up to the man, her eyes pinning him to the spot.
“There was a problem getting to the car. It went off the road right at the Cutter’s Creek bridge. It caught half on and half off the bridge.” Josie could tell Tom was choosing his words carefully.
Josie felt a coldness seep around her heart that had nothing to do with the weather. She knew. “It’s Chance. Something happened to Chance, didn’t it? He’s dead…” Her voice cracked on the word, and Tom took hold of her shoulders. His face moved close to hers, wanting to reassure her and keep her focused on what he was saying.
“No, Josie. He isn’t dead. He’s unconscious and on his way to the hospital. We’ve got the grader out front, and we’re going to get you down to the main highway. Sheriff Waller has a truck waiting for you there. It’ll be slow going, but we’ll get you to Chance.”
Josie didn’t wait to hear the last part; she was grabbing her jacket and gloves. She only slowed when she almost landed at the bottom of the porch steps when her boot hit an icy spot. Luckily, Tom was right behind her and caught her. She never slowed down. The minutes were ticking like seconds, and her one thought was that she had to get to Chance.
